


A Luggage Problem

by terroringlasses



Series: A Real Journey [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Hacker! Darcy Lewis, Hydra (Marvel), Projecting your feelings of inferiority onto your unconscious best friend, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Wakanda (Marvel), Wakandan Technology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23603245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terroringlasses/pseuds/terroringlasses
Summary: After Darcy Lewis's estrangement from her former boss (and friend) Jane Foster, and the implosion of her job at S.H.I.E.L.D., she had to rebuild a career with the Avengers.Now, the reappearance of Jane threatens to throw a spanner in the works.  And who she meets next will upend all of Darcy's plans.
Relationships: Darcy Lewis & Shuri, Darcy Lewis & Thor, Darcy Lewis & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis, Jane Foster/Thor
Series: A Real Journey [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696696
Comments: 37
Kudos: 252





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in some nebulous time span post-Civil War, post-Black Panther. 
> 
> Also, I recommend reading "Soul-Sick" if you have not already; they are separate works, but I think they are connected in order to understand the progression of Darcy's development.
> 
> There IS Bucky/Darcy interaction in this work. However, it is unresolved. (I know, I know! There will be another work in this series.)
> 
> Credit to "Joe vs. the Volcano" for my titles.

A week after Bruce left the tower, Darcy was still unsettled, but had mostly reconciled herself to the feeling. Instead, she threw herself into her work. It was funny, she thought, how everyone thought Jane was a workaholic. She knew that even Jane - dedicated, brilliant, obsessive Jane - would abandon the bridge if she was feeling any emotional turbulence over it. She’d tried, in London.

Darcy, however, would work forever to escape the awkwardness she constantly felt. She’d considered this multiple times over the last few months. She thought about balance, and how she didn’t have any. Thought about how attractive all of her colleagues were. _Mac and Aarav could get catalogue work,_ she thought, _attractive as they were._ They were trying to get their own small media company off the ground, and they were cute and charismatic. She was proud of her small role in bringing them together.

The other people she worked with - she tried desperately not to think about them, for that way lay only despair. Few non-Avengers were Avenger-level attractive. Darcy had seen photos of Clint’s wife, and privately thought Laura was slumming it (Darcy was a sucker for a guy who made her laugh, but Laura must have a hell of a sense of humor). But Laura Barton was the exception, not the rule. Darcy had formed ill-founded, unrequited crushes on colleagues before, and never wanted to deal with that again. So she resolutely did not admire Steve’s ass, or ogle Natasha’s...everything, or indulge Stark’s innuendo. 

She _did_ allow herself to make heart eyes at grainy photos of 1940s Bucky Barnes (and if she was honest, some of the Bucharest footage, too), but word was he was safely ensconced in Wakanda, on ice. She fully anticipated this Avenger-adjacent bubble bursting for her before _that_ became an issue.

She had downloaded a dating app, but rarely used it. And by rarely, she meant never. She was mismanaging her proximity to the Avengers - even if she was not in their league, no one else was, either. Thus, work remained her only outlet.

The Avengers were on one of their missions that week, so she was posting polls ( _“With which Avenger would you most want to skydive?”_ accompanied by a GIF of Steve actually jumping out of a plane) and exchanging smack-talk with the social media team for the Fantastic Four (who might actually just have been Johnny Storm). All in a day’s work, really, until Mac burst into their shared office to exclaim, “There’s an alien ship landing on the building!”

That was...not cool. Darcy jumped out of her seat and ran to the hallway monitors, where instead of broadcasting the commissary’s daily specials, they were showing drone security footage of, _oh, yeah, that was an alien ship all right,_ and it was on the landing pad. Darcy was still, her hands wadded in the sleeves of her sweater, a low level terror in her marrow. Then the door to the ship swung to the concrete and from it emerged a tall blonde man, roughly the size of a small mountain.

“Thor,” she whispered. Mac looked at her, breathing a sigh of relief.

She had a split second to decide. She could send Mac and Aarav out there, do a quick “Welcome Back to Earth” spiel. It’d be cute. Maybe she could parody the Disney Superbowl bits. But…

But the Avengers were gone. She was the only one here he knew. As far as she knew, anyway. He’d traveled across entire galaxies to be here, and he hadn’t even done it by Bifrost. If that were her, she’d want a friendly, familiar face. If he recognized her, that is.

“Okay, I’m going up.”

The rest of the building, previously on red alert, had downgraded to a busy hum now that the alien had been identified. Darcy raced to the elevator, past people who had dropped papers, prayed, called their loved ones. She left Mac and Aarav behind her, fumbling with their devices. Darcy punched in the floor button and teetered on her heels while she waited for the elevator to do its job. And then, with a loud DING, Darcy took a deep breath and exited on the landing pad.

She waited until they made eye contact. “Hey there, stranger!”

*****

Thor had thoroughly demolished an entire batch of pancakes before Darcy got an explanation out of him. It wasn’t easy being an extraterrestrial prince. His Asgardian responsibilities had taken him back to his home world, away from his lady Jane (if both of them felt a little queasy at her name, they both ignored it), away from any issues the Avengers might face. His home life had taken some severe downgrades.

Darcy had quickly taken a teaser photo of Thor’s ship, with some possible captions (she was currently kicking around, _“You bet your Asgard he’s back!”_ though it lacked zing), and sent Mac and Aarav to work on it. She poked at her pasta with her fork while Thor shoveled multiple rashers of bacon. She was dreading the next part of the conversation.

“And you, Darcy? How is it you’ve left the employ of Jane and come to work for Stark?”

She glared at the name. Both names, really. “I don’t work for Stark. I work for the Avengers.” She sighed, and looked down. Those noodles seemed suddenly riveting. “And, well, you know, I graduated. Can’t pretend to be a physicist forever.” She chanced a look up. Thor was looking at her and chewing, doubtfully. Darcy cursed all adverbs and continued. “And her work has, just, completely surpassed anything she needs me for, Thor! She’s light years beyond her hack ‘colleagues.’” She was proud of the pun, not so much the snide air quotes. 

And also, proud of Jane.

“Oh, of course. I don’t doubt Jane’s abilities. Rather, I am surprised at the coincidence of all...this.” He gestured at her, then at the facilities. She leaned back, grumpily. Trust Thor to get to the root of her worries.

“Yeah, well. Anyway.” She cleared her throat. “It’s my job to keep everyone on social media abreast of the Avengers’ hippest happenings, and you’re an Avenger, sooo...anything you’d like to say to the public?”

Thor forked a mouthful of pancake. “Tell them I said ‘Hi.’” He smiled as she laughed a tiny bit and took a quick photo for Twitter, feeling like it was old times.


	2. Chapter 2

Thor was content to wait until the rest of the team returned. Darcy had indulged herself with him. They’d gone to the zoo and found animals that ostensibly looked like his teammates, and she’d filmed him telling 1-minute versions of Asgardian legends. She’d started a poll on which food was the most “NYC,” and she was going to take him on a taste-test run. She was hoping cannoli won the poll.

Her phone buzzed twelve minutes before her alarm went off, which would normally prompt very murdery threats, but her rage ebbed a bit when she saw who it was. Why was Jane calling her at this unholy hour? 

“Hello?” Her voice sounded like sandpaper scraped over gravel.

“Darcy?” Jane’s voice was bright. Tentative and thin maybe, but alert. Darcy groaned inwardly. 

“Hi, Jane.”

“Darcy? How are you?”

Ouch, small talk. “I’m fine. How are you?” 

A short, hysterical giggle. “I’m - not fine. Hey, do you remember our old friend Donald?” 

Darcy frowned. “Your ex-boyfriend?”

“Yeah, my ex-boyfriend.” Darcy thought she heard the emphasis on that word. “The really handy one, with the tools.”

 _Tools, tools - oh._ “Yeah, that guy sure knows how to swing a hammer.”

“Yes, exactly.” This time the nerves were cut with relief. “I need some help. Could you get in touch with him? Ask him to bring his tools to my place?”

“Sure thing, Janey.” The nickname came unbidden, familiar. “Um, where is your lab right now?”

“I’ll email you coordinates. It’s easier.”

“Okay, Jane. See you soon.” _Idiot. You’re not invited._

“I’ll see you soon, Darcy. And thank you.”

Okay. So she and Thor were going to visit Jane. Great. She tried to ignore the fear in her belly. Not the apprehension that she’d come to associate with Jane, but fear for Jane. She nearly yanked her phone out of the charger trying to call Thor.

Thor had answered immediately, agreeing to meet her on the roof in ten. She’d found the coordinates in her email, encrypted (thank Thor Jane had learned at least that much about info security). Jane was in Nunavut. Darcy packed a light bag with warmer clothing, and an extra knit cap for Thor. He likely wouldn’t feel the cold, but looking at him would make her feel cold. She stuffed the clothes in beside her laptop.

She hesitated a moment before leaving. The Stark Tower AI was friendly enough, for an incorporeal, inorganic sentient brain, but Darcy had purposely limited her interaction with it. She figured she owed her boss some notice here. Or was this a work trip? “Um, FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Ms. Lewis?”

“Can I leave a message for Tony?”

“Certainly, Ms. Lewis. Please leave your message after the tone.”

She blinked at that, and left a message about taking Thor on a field trip, something she hoped was not too rambling and panic-inducing.

She met Thor on the pad just as the Quinjet was landing. Darcy’s heart plummeted, certain this was going to delay their departure.

“Hey, Point Break! Terrible timing, man!” Stark was first out of the jet. He caught sight of Darcy standing near the elevator. “Oh, a reunion?”

She growled at that, and Thor intervened. “Yes, and unfortunately, I must be going.” He looked at Darcy.

“Yes, and I have to go with him.” She made motion towards Thor’s ship.

Stark stopped. “Leaving? And absconding with my social media director?”

“Yep! I have to take pictures for - for posterity!” She drummed up more cheer than she felt. She pushed past Tony, Thor following closely behind her.

“Hey, if you wait a few minutes, we can refuel the Quinjet, and you can take that!” 

Rogers had emerged. “Take the Quinjet where?”

Darcy tensed, regretting every decision she’d ever made when Natasha exited the jet, with her eyes that missed nothing. She felt Natasha examining the set of her shoulders, her bag laden with several days’ worth of clothing. They hadn’t interacted much during Darcy’s tenure at the tower, what with Natasha’s natural caginess about publicity, but Natasha knew how to read people. “What’s wrong?”

Darcy and Thor made eye contact, and she wasn’t surprised when he replied. “Jane’s in trouble.”

Tony frowned. “Foster’s in trouble?” He looked to Darcy for confirmation.

“She called me. Really cryptic. I don’t know what the issue is. She just sent me coordinates and asked me to bring Thor.” Her hands were flailing, out of control.

“Thor. And you.” The captain looked skeptical. She tried really hard not to be irritated by that, just shrugging instead. He clapped his hands. “Alright, everybody back on the plane!”

Clint, who by all appearances was half asleep at the elevator door, wordlessly turned right back around and trudged to the jet. Stark followed.

Thor looked conflicted. “Are you certain?” he asked Rogers.

The captain nodded. “We don’t know what you’ll be up against when you get there. If she’s already been captured, and it’s a trap -”

“It’s almost certainly a trap!” Stark yelled from the cabin.

“- then you’ll need all the help you can get. If she hasn’t been captured, then, quite frankly, it sounds like it’s only a matter of time, and you’ll want the preemptive numbers.” Thor nodded in agreement.

Darcy stood still in her spot, numb, and frozen with insecurity. Should she go back to bed?

“Lewis! Come on!” Stark yelled again. Rogers looked ready to argue with him. “What? Foster called her. So, even if she’s not ‘mission-critical…’” accompanied here by some snarky finger quotes, Thor love him. “...Quite frankly, I want to know why. So she sticks with us.”

Rogers rolled his eyes. “No photos,” he finally assented, before turning on his heel into the jet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place in some nebulous time span post-Civil War, post-Black Panther. 
> 
> Also, I recommend reading "Soul-Sick" if you have not already; they are separate works, but I think they are connected in order to understand the progression of Darcy's development.
> 
> There IS Bucky/Darcy interaction in this work. However, it is unresolved. (I know, I know! There will be another work in this series.)
> 
> Credit to "Joe vs. the Volcano" for my titles.


	3. Chapter 3

Darcy followed Stark into the Quinjet. She was not sure she felt relieved at her inclusion on this mission. “You can assist Romanoff with the computer junk,” Stark said. “Not that she needs it,” he said dryly, in response to Natasha’s raised eyebrow. Darcy could only nod.

She was nervous. Nervous for Jane, which nearly eclipsed her own nerves at seeing Jane again. Stark watched her carefully for a few moments after the jet took off, then spoke to her.

“So what’s your beef with your old boss?” It wasn’t really a question. He was snacking out of a bag of sunflower seeds, and offered the bag to her. She shook her head, certain she would hurl if she ate anything.

She took a deep breath. “I told her I was a hacker. She took it...hard.”

“How hard?”

She raised her eyes to his. “I hacked S.H.I.E.L.D. Before the Triskelion was compromised.”

He whistled. “Oh, so, that hard. That’s a felony, yeah?”

“I never asked, Tony.” She thumped her head against the wall, remembering the last time she’d seen Jane. It had not been a good exchange.

_Jane sighed, a mug of coffee held fast in her hands. “S.H.I.E.L.D. has agreed to provide us security at the next conference.”_

_“Where’s that?” Darcy asked, stretching. She was pretty stoked to get moving; Hawaii had not been a picnic thus far. No sooner had they checked in than their visit been disrupted by unsolicited room service, in the form of Hydra operatives. Darcy had opened the door to decline, only to be greeted by a dart gun._

_Thankfully, Darcy never went anywhere nowadays without her taser. She felt like she needed a vacation from paradise. S.H.I.E.L.D. showed up shortly after to clean up. Darcy, who knew no one had called them, tried to ignore the ice in her veins._

_“Germany.” Jane leaned back in the hotel armchair. Erik was absorbed in his laptop at the desk, a staple in business-class hotels. No doubt he had a third of an ear on the conversation, though. “How are you? Feel better?”_

_Darcy pulled the nonchalance over her like a sweater. “I’m fine.” She shrugged. “I think it helps that I’m not the one they really want? I’m sure they’re looking for intel on the bridge.” Sure nothing. She was certain._

_“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Jane slumped into her chair. After a moment, she said, “I think you need a break. Go home, finish the degree. You’ve more than fulfilled the terms of the internship at this point.” Darcy knew this, could count the peanuts she’d been working for. Still. “It’s so dangerous for you here, Darcy. Everyday you spend with us, you’re a target.” And then, in earnest, as if trying to convince someone, “It’s probably a good thing you don’t understand more about the machine.”_

_Darcy bristled at that. She knew that, yes, her boss was a genius. She also knew that didn’t mean that she herself wasn’t smart. However, she wasn’t used to the difference in their intellect being discussed so bluntly. Her voice was chilly. “Yeah, I’m pretty short on understanding in general nowadays.”_

_Erik seemed to sense the change in weather and quickly feigned a yawn. Patting Darcy on the back, he exited the room. Jane gaped at her. “Darcy, I didn’t mean -“_

_“No, it’s fine. I’m, what, expendable? I get it.” Darcy didn’t know how long she could play freeze out. That relied on her ability to sustain conflict, and she was not good at conflict._

_“That’s not it at all. I just meant - well, if you’d known more, they might try to hurt you. So far, you’re just in danger of being too close.”_

_Too close to her, she meant. Darcy’s back went ramrod straight. “Yeah, it’s no big deal. I’ve shown nothing but loyalty to you, am shot at on a regular basis, but no lasting damage, right? Thank Thor the bridge is okay.”_

_Jane’s face blanched the way it always did when Darcy swore on her ex-boyfriend. Something she only did to needle Jane, Darcy could safely admit at the moment._

_“Darcy, that’s not what I meant. Where is this coming from?”_

_The freeze-out thawed, but it was not a good feeling. “Jane, there are...I’ve learned lots of things. Not just about the bridge.” She ran a hand down her face, exhaling hard. Jane’s beautiful face struggled at registering confusion. “Listen, I - oh, god, this is hard. Okay.” She breathed again, steadying this time. “Don’t you think it’s bizarre how all of your invitations are so sudden? So last minute? And don’t you think it’s equally bizarre how no matter where we go, shadowy nefarious organizations are, like, minutes behind us?” She leaned forward towards Jane, feeling the weight of what she was trying to convey. “Aren’t you curious why that is?”_

_Jane looked at her as if she’d suddenly turned purple. “Darcy, what have you done?”_

_She stood up. “I just...notice things, Jane. Patterns.” Jane’s face was twisted into doubt. “I’m very observant.” Jane nodded, conceding the point, but she kept staring straight at her. “Remember how I hacked into the live footage in Tromsø?” Jane stiffened. Darcy caved. “I hacked S.H.I.E.L.D.”_

_“You WHaT?!”_

_“It’s fine, Jane! It’s fine. They’ll never notice. I’m very good at what I do, Jane, and I don’t mean making sure you eat, or transcribing your notes.” She took a deep breath, struggling to keep the bitterness from poisoning her voice. “They have a file on you. They’ve been manipulating you, removing you from risky locations with invitations to conferences without telling you about the concerns.” Oh, here was the hard part. “But I think they’ve got a mole.”_

_Jane’s own face had turned white. “I can accept that. I can accept all of that,” Jane whispered, as if trying to convince herself. “How long have you known?”_

_She sighed, preparing for the consequences. “Since after Tromsø?” At Jane’s sharp intake of breath, she continued. “Not one hundred percent though, Jane! After all that business with the firewalls, I just - I had to be sure -”_

_“And you didn’t say anything?”_

_“I was worried for you! You can’t trust them, Jane. Whoever attacked us tonight, whoever wants your work - they want you! And S.H.I.E.L.D. won’t keep you safe. Can’t keep you safe. They’ve got someone in there who’s leaking your whereabouts, and I can’t figure out who it is.”_

_Jane was quiet. “You thought you could help me by keeping me in the dark? That’s exactly what they did, Darcy. What were you thinking?"_

_Darcy was feeling exactly how deep this wound was. This was not the collateral damage over which Jane had worried. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I need a vacation. No, wait, you need - you need someone who can help you. More than I can, anyway. I - I’m turning in my notice.” Her voice wobbled. She couldn’t help it. She took a deep breath, hoping Jane would call her bluff._

_Jane stood up, still pale, raggedy breath slowing down. “Take as much time as you need,” she said to the air above Darcy’s head, and then left._

“Can I just say -” she turned her head towards him. “- That it’s a miracle she survived the uprising?” Stark nodded, solemn for once. “She’s one of the good ones, Stark. Working for the light.” A tear fell, and she wiped it away quickly. “I was really stupid about not going back.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know. She’d tried to send me away already, and she didn’t even know what I’d done at that point. And maybe - maybe it was true, that I was a liability to them.”

Tony shoved a packet of chocolate-covered raisins at her. “That’s not why she sent you away, is it? Is that what she said?”

“No. She sent me away to keep me safe, she said.”

“So maybe that’s what you should have heard. What you need to hear.” She tried to glare, but settled for stealing the whole bag. “I’m serious. You’re carrying around a lot of junk. Inferiority complex, which we probably haven’t helped with,” he mused. “You hang out with a bunch of superheroes all day, in an environment where all info is on a need-to-know basis, and, well, you don’t need to know much of anything.” He looked at her. “Coulson hired you to keep you safe. You’re talented, and you’ve got a hell of a work ethic, and you’re hungry to help. But he looked at you and saw a lost puppy that swallowed a time bomb.” He put his hands up at her protest. “No, it’s true, but you don’t have to carry that around with you.”

“Why did you hire me?” She didn’t want it to be a whisper, wanted her voice to be strong and authoritative, but that was all she could muster at the moment.

He was quiet. “Same reasons. But you’ve proven that you’re more than that. You are, at the very least, a full grown doberman.”

She laughed, a tightness in her chest unraveling slightly. Romanoff’s voice came over the radio. “Wheels down in five.”

“Wait, before we land.” She grabbed his glove, the metal hand dwarfing her own. “Were there - were there threats?”

“To you?” She nodded. “Yes.” She took that in, then nodded again. 

“Okay. I can work with that.”


	4. Chapter 4

The Quinjet landed quietly in the middle of a field at the bottom of a mountain. Jane’s small RV was camped in the valley.

Clint had donned his goggles moments before landing. “I don’t see anything,” he said. “One light in the RV, no people detected.”

Steve ingested that. “Okay, Stark, Barton, you head up the hill to the lab. Natasha and I will follow Thor and Darcy into the RV. We’ll head up if we don’t find anything.”

The other two took off immediately, Iron Man grabbing Hawkeye by two straps and taking flight. Thor and Darcy exited the jet, walking as normally as they could. She couldn’t detect the captain or Black Widow, but trusted that they were well within reach.

She turned to Thor, a smile that could have been a grimace. “What do we do if she’s there?”

He was stone-faced. “We remove her to the Quinjet as quickly and safely as possible.”

“What do we do if she’s not there?”

“Rendezvous with the others at the lab.”

“What do we do if she’s not alone?”

“Well, that depends, doesn’t it?”

She continued the walk in silence. As they approached the RV, Darcy began to make more noise. She shuffled her feet, coughed, yawned loudly. Before knocking, she shouted. “Jane? We’re here!” Then she rapped quickly on the door. 

She barely had time to step back before the door slammed open. Jane stood there, her hair and clothes askew. “Darcy!” She looked past Darcy. “Thor! Oh thank god, come in!” Darcy looked back at Thor, who shrugged and urged her on. She entered.

The RV was wrecked. Darcy was only slightly concerned, as this was Jane’s usual state of affairs. Dried food tacked on to dirty dishes, clothing and linen strewn over the floor. Thor just looked at her, blankly. “Jane,” Darcy began, “How’re things?”

Jane’s face crumpled. “Oh Darcy, things are not good.” She bent over, face in hands. Darcy reached out a hand to comfort her friend. As her hand made contact -

> _
> 
> She found herself in a bed in a warm, sunny hospital room. It would have been sterile had the light not been streaming in, and Jane herself not been smiling so sunnily from the chair beside her. There, in her arms, was a sleeping newborn. And standing at Darcy’s bedside, solicitous and protective, was the handsomest man she had ever seen. His smile was wide and open, and his eyes, blue like lasers, glistened with unshed tears. She knew him, but could not place from where. The baby had dark hair, peeking out from a white knit cap. The baby made a slight mew, and Darcy felt her heart explode. Jane beamed at her. “What do you think, Mama?” Jane whispered. Darcy wanted to ask what the hell she was talking about, even as her chest expanded with joy.
> 
> _

Suddenly, she was back in the RV. Jane’s hand clenched tightly to her chest, Darcy’s hands still hovering in midair. Darcy struggled to catch her breath. Thor’s expression was loaded with concern. “Jane,” she gasped, “what the hell was that?”

Darcy recovered just enough to boil some water. Tea. She needed tea. Jane sat on the bed next to Thor, trying not to lean into his bulk. She looked exhausted, and not in the frantic science way - she looked like someone whose life was burning out of her. “I’ve been experimenting with this new tool from Wakanda. It uses Vibranium to regulate the frequency of Einstein-Rosen particles.” She took a deep breath. “I thought I was alone out here.”

Darcy and Thor shared a glance. “But?”

“But - but these guys showed up. Four of them, with their own equipment and permits to use the lab. So I started packing up. They didn’t like that.” She sighed again. “They were Hydra.”

“Oh, Jane -”

Jane glared at nothing in particular. “They’re always Hydra. You know that, and you weren’t even here.”

Anger flared up in Darcy at that, but she tamped it down. “Where’s Eric?”

“He’s on vacation. He’s had a rough couple of years.”

 _Who hasn’t?_ Darcy thought wryly. “So you came here by yourself?”

Darcy was well ready to work herself up into a snit, but Thor intervened. “Jane, what happened next?”

“When - when they attacked me, I was afraid.” She stared hard at her hands, and Darcy let her anger simmer in another direction for a moment. “It was worse than - than Malekith, or the Destroyer. I hadn’t been alone then, see? But this time, I was. And these guys were human. Bad intentions. I was so scared. And the machine - the Vibranium recognized that.” Darcy could see the scientist in Jane pique at that, already itching to get back to exploring the empathetic mineral. That was probably a good sign. “And it - it flickered.”

Darcy’s eyebrows raised. “Flickered,” she said blankly.

Jane thought, her eyebrows furrowed. “No, it didn’t flicker. Everything else flickered around it.” She looked at Darcy. “And it hasn’t stopped.” Suddenly, she got up, a small whirlwind in the RV. She grabbed her notebook and a pen. Darcy stood back, pressed against the countertop, careful not to make contact. “First, it flickered the Hydra, as best I can tell, out of existence.” Darcy was alarmed. Jane, however, had snapped out of her fear, and was in full observation mode. “Then it flickered me, but it brought me back, I mean, I’m here, I’m still here, but not always.” She paused. “Or...not all the way, rather.”

Darcy shot a glance at Thor, who was watching Jane thoughtfully. She recognized some of Eric’s more fanciful tones in Jane’s musings. It was...alarming. “Jane,” she said slowly, “What is the Vibranium doing?”

“Traveling me. Taking me to another dimension.”

“Another dimension?”

“Yes. Parallel dimensions, alternate timelines.” Her pupils were tiny black holes. “Less like a tesseract, more like...a different branch. A detour.”

“Jane, where did we go?”

Jane waved a hand around. “We went to a different timeline, Darcy! One where you had a baby, obviously. You were there.”

The kettle whistled. Thor’s eyebrows soared. Darcy swallowed. “Okay. So - how?”

“The Vibranium. It can both stabilize and destabilize energy, and it’s...sensitive.”

“Sensitive.”

“Yes! I think that when I was attacked, my energy destabilized some field holding my attackers and me in place. And then, well, I came back, they didn’t. But it keeps happening, Darcy.”

“Did you call before or after they attacked?”

“Before. I called as soon as they arrived.”

“But we didn’t get here quickly enough.” She looked to Thor. “We should get Tony.”


	5. Chapter 5

Stark digested the story quickly. “Okay, so we’ve got a real Vonnegut here. And Foster can’t figure out a way to stabilize herself?”

Jane glared at him. “I could; I just haven’t properly applied myself to the problem yet -”

“Well, doc, two brains are better than one. Let’s you and I apply ourselves.”

“Hold on a second. We can’t stay here.” Rogers was in a defensive stance. “Hydra knows where she is; they haven’t heard from their agents, they’ll send someone to find them.”

“So let’s take her to the tower.”

Jane shook her head fiercely. “No, we need to go to Wakanda. They have the machinery necessary for stabilizing Vibranium.”

Stark looked offended. “I can make something to stabilize Vibranium.”

“Do we need to reinvent the wheel?” Romanoff commented drily.

Stark continued arguing, stepping over to the equipment to examine it. Jane rushed forward in his direction, brushing past Darcy -

> _
> 
> When she was onstage in a large field. The sun shone brightly over her. She was dressed in a green graduation gown, the sleeves falling in bells over her wrists. She heard her name - “Darcy Lewis, Doctor of Philosophy, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences.” A man reached out and gripped her wrist, shaking briefly. She grasped the diploma in her other hand. She turned to the right and saw Jane in her own regalia, smiling proudly at her. She continued walking across the stage, even strutting a bit. She heard someone hollering her name in the audience. “Yeah Darcy! Whooo!” There, front row, beside a group of otherwise cleancut men in jeans and flannels, was a man with dark hair and blue eyes, looking so proud and loud. She smiled back at him, feeling her heart constrict with familiarity even though she couldn’t tell you his name -
> 
> _

And then she was back. She and Jane both heaved for breath. Clint, who had previously been dozing off against a wall, was now wide awake. “What the shit was that?”

Jane glared at Stark. “That is why we need to go to Wakanda.”

His arms were up in surrender. “Fine, fine. Just, uh, don’t touch me.” 

The plane ride was quiet. Rogers had taken the helm from Romanoff for the ride to Wakanda. She sat in the co-pilot’s position, and the two murmured between themselves - contingency plans, probably. Darcy wasn’t sure what kind of security risk an interdimensional astrophysicist presented to the planet, but they would mull that over themselves.

The physicist in question was currently huddled up, talking quietly with Thor. Darcy could see from where she sat how his hand, resting on the seat between them, twitched towards Jane, wanting to reach out. _Bad idea, pal,_ she thought to herself. If her own experiences were anything to go by, touching Jane in her current condition was a round trip to Whatifsville. She didn’t wish that on him, even as she commiserated with him. She too wanted to comfort Jane.

Darcy was lonely. She’d felt it since leaving Hawaii, that empty spot that ached within her. She didn’t really consider herself an extrovert, but people were important to her, and they were easy, too. Even Jane and Erik, at the beginning, both of whom had spoken a completely different language than she did, barely acknowledging her presence except to bark orders at her, had warmed up to her, and more importantly, had wormed a path into her own heart. And she’d gone from sharing incredibly close quarters with the pair to seeing them...never. And moved onto a string of increasingly shitty roommates who couldn’t make the leap to “friend.”

Online, her relationships had been friendly, but based on business. And S.H.I.E.L.D. - even without knowing that they’d been corrupted, she still couldn’t look at any of her coworkers without suspecting them of being the mole. 

In short, Darcy had not gotten out much in the last few years.

Since joining the Avengers - _no, wait, what?_ She stopped herself there. 

“We’re approaching Wakanda.” The captain’s voice sounded over the intercom. “So put on your best behavior.”

Tony cocked an eyebrow at her. “Manners,” he said in a sing-song tone, rubbing his hands together gleefully. Darcy rolled her eyes at him, and went to buckle her seat belt. Thor and Jane sat quietly, side by side.

The king of Wakanda was a very handsome man. Darcy should have been inured to attractive people at that point, but every now and then they caught her unawares. She’d never met this particular attractive person...well, in person before. Some people might have had a hard time reconciling the gentle, delicately-accented man before her with the fierce fighter she’d seen in the footage from Bucharest. But then, some people hadn’t met Bruce Banner. T’Challa greeted the captain with a broad smile, one that dimmed slightly when he took in the rest of the entourage. The king’s guards, the Dora Milaje, stood behind him, ready to intervene at any moment. Their eyes followed him as he walked over to Jane. “Dr. Foster, I understand you’ve had some difficulty with one of our machines.” At Jane’s nod, his eyes twinkled. “Did you try turning it off and back on again?”

Jane huffed a laugh at that, despite her shaking. A moment later, she doubled over. Almost as instantaneously, the king had moved forward to steady her, the Dora Milaje moving with him, but she pulled away. “No! Don’t touch me!” As she moved, though, she bumped backwards into Darcy, who once again -

> _
> 
> Her heels clacked against the floors of the Stark Industries R&D lab. The skirt was mildly constricting, not the jeans she was used to running around in, but she felt...different. More powerful. She pushed past the glass door into the lab, past a row of men who were not dressed for SI, but then, who really knew with Tony’s whims. Dr. Jane Foster stood, beaming. Her smile only widened as she noticed her friend. “Darcy! Darcy, we’ve got it!”  
> Darcy gasped. “You do? When do we test it?”  
> “We’ll have to go to Alaska, but it’s solid.” Jane closed her eyes, and Darcy was sure she was seeing stars. “An artificial bifrost.”  
> She heard the pop of a bottle, and someone on the sidelines stirred. “Hello?”  
> “Oh, this is our new intern! Darcy, meet James.”  
> “Hello, Ms. Lewis.” He reached out to shake her hand, holding the champagne with his left (prosthetic?) arm, and she saw the dark hair, this time long and pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes, so blue bluer than blue she felt dumb and kind of frustrated who was this guy and why did he keep showing up in her various timelines and why was he so familiar and it was inappropriate for her to have this kind of reaction to a subordinate she was going to have to talk to HR ugh Pepper would be pissed -  
> “Hi. Darcy, please,” she said, with a smile. 
> 
> _

When she pulled back to reality, she was on the floor, and Jane had collapsed.

T’Challa’s face was stern. “Shuri,” he said, and a young woman stepped further into the room. “Would you please escort Dr. Foster to your clinic?”

“Of course.” Darcy peered at the princess, curious. She didn’t wear a lab coat, but her clothes were architectural, organic, and crisp. She quickly summoned an automated gurney, though how Darcy couldn’t tell. Was it the little bead she’d stuck onto Jane?

“And Mr. Stark?” T’Challa addressed Tony, who was fairly vibrating at the idea of Princess Shuri being in the room. “Would you care to accompany them?”

“Yesss!” Tony hissed in triumph, and then cleared his throat. “I mean, of course. It would be an honor.” He nearly skipped after them. Thor moved to follow silently, and T’Challa nodded his assent.

“And you, miss? Do you require medical attention?” The king of Wakanda was speaking directly to her, and all Darcy could do was shake her head in the negative. He nodded understanding, and then turned to Rogers. “Captain? There is someone here who is very eager to see you.”

Rogers, who’d been standing there looking all solemn, perked up a bit. He and T’Challa walked out of the room, talking in low voices. 

And suddenly, Natasha and Clint were at her elbows. “Come on, Lewis. Let’s see if we can’t find any ice cream.” Natasha’s voice was low, but Darcy could still hear the comfort offered there.

Clint addressed the remaining Dora in the room. “Any idea where the cafeteria is around here?” One warrior just rolled her eyes at him, then motioned forward. He thanked her, and she followed the three of them to the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 6

She had not seen any more of Jane since arriving. They’d sequestered her in the princess’s medical lab. Clint and Natasha had wandered off for more Avengers’ business, and Darcy had been alone since then.

The ice cream had helped.

It was late afternoon. She’d shed the coat somewhere. Wakanda’s weather, like everything else about it, was perfect. She’d left the cap on, though; no one needed to see the state of her hair. She wondered idly about the location of her bag. Back on the Quinjet, still?

She looked out over the valley from the palace’s terrace. There were glass doors leading back in, and she could see the Avengers’ leading men walking into the atrium. She heard their laughter, heard muffled voices. Rogers turned to her, and the smile drained from his face. He murmured something to the king, who nodded, and moved towards the door. At a loss, her hands twisted in her sleeves.

“Ms. Lewis? Would you like to see your friend?”

She nodded, and found herself with an escort of some of the most powerful men in the world. They left her at the door. Shuri’s lab was less serene than the rest of the palace; though it retained the same organic shapes, the colors were brighter, and bass thumped wildly within the room itself. Darcy didn’t recognize any of the machines. She entered, willing her feet not to halt. The princess was standing over the gurney, fiddling with some holoscreen that Darcy couldn’t make heads nor tails of. Jane lay there, unresponsive.

“Jane?” Darcy whispered.

“Your friend is stable,” Shuri said. “We’ve generated a vibranium shield that absorbs the residual energy she activated. It’s difficult to say how much she herself absorbed, but until it expends itself, she is at risk.”

“Risk of what?” Darcy’s teeth worried her lip. “Has - has anyone touched her?”

Shuri looked at her steadily. “A few of us.” Darcy caught her eyes flickering to the corner, then back to her. “I’ve tested it myself. Am I to understand you bumped into her?”

Darcy nodded. “Several times.”

“And what were your experiences?”

She expelled her breath in a whoosh. “I saw - not exactly my future, but what could have been? Other futures?”

Shuri leaned forward a bit, and Darcy recognized the lust for discovery in her eyes. Hadn’t she worked with Jane enough, with Stark even, to know it for what it was? “And who else was there? With you?”

“Well, Jane.”

“That’s all?”

Darcy was puzzled by the interest. “No, there was one other person. I don’t know him, though.” Not exactly true. She did, though she could not place him. For some reason, she did not want Shuri or anyone else to poke at him. He felt...private. Important. She coughed, and tried to change the subject. “It’s, uh, interesting how Jane keeps absorbing things that want to kill her.”

Shuri nodded. “That is one of the dangers of discovery, being open to the universe.” Shuri rose. Her voice was steady. “I saw myself as queen of Wakanda. My brother was dead, had died in the explosion with our father.” She turned away from Darcy.

Darcy swallowed. “I’m sorry you had to experience that.”

“I’m thankful it was not my reality.” Shuri turned back to her. “But that does not mean there are not a great many pleasant realities out there. I think this one, for instance, is very pleasant.”

Darcy heard a frustrated snort from the corner, and walked further into the room. Behind her, the door hissed open, and then closed. She could make out beyond the glass a man with dark hair, stomping away. Shuri snorted in disapproval. “Baby,” she muttered. Darcy turned to her, eyebrow raised. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll get over it.” Darcy nodded, still puzzled. “So, tell me about your time with Doctor Foster.” 

Night fell over Wakanda, and it was lovely, just like everything else she’d seen in the country. What she’d seen of its architecture, its technology - everything paled next to its natural beauty, and Darcy did not consider herself outdoorsy to any degree.

She had spent the rest of the afternoon in Shuri’s lab, relishing in the familiarity, even though it looked nothing like any of Jane’s labs. Shuri was an easy conversationalist, and able to devote equal attention to her work and her guest. Afterwards, Shuri had summoned a change of clothing for her, and sent her on her way. Darcy drifted back to the terrace, just in time for sunset. She stood there in her Wakandan sundress, enjoying the slight breeze as she watched the colors of the sky separate from one another.

She heard some bickering inside, not loud, not aggressive. Peering through the glass of the doors, she saw Princess Shuri berating some man, the same man she’d seen stalking away from the lab that afternoon. He was tall, and built, with dark hair. She watched, curious, as he gestured towards the terrace with both arms ( _one of them metal?_ ), his jaw set. Shuri merely shook her head, said something. He threw his head back, exhaled loudly and _ohno he was coming this way -_

The Winter Soldier.

Bucky Barnes.

_The man from Jane’s visions?_

She panicked as the door pushed open. There was nowhere to hide, exactly, unless she threw herself over the railing, which was not really a reasonable option at this juncture. So she settled for sliding as far to the side as she could, unobtrusive, inconspicuous. If she was lucky, he’d walk out far enough that she could just slide to the door -

“Nice night, yeah?” He sounded hesitant, frustrated. His shoulders were up around his ears, hands buried in the pockets of his dark jeans.

Her plans sucked, always. She cleared her throat and walked forward. “Yeah, it is.” Riveting. She was riveting. Really good at this conversation business.

“I liked your memes.”

“My memes?” Her mind was blank.

His voice was uncertain, when he answered. “That’s what they’re called, right? Shuri told me that memes were -” his brow furrowed. “Pictures or stories that people share because they are funny or interesting. Steve as a labrador is...both.”

Her eyebrows shot to the heavens. “Thank you?”

He looked at her. “I’m Bucky.”

“I know.” She screamed inwardly. “I mean, I’m Darcy. Darcy Lewis.”

“I know.” His lip quirked, as did her loins. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same.” Those blue eyes were especially bright in the moonlight. She could have lived her entire life not knowing that, but if you tried to take the knowledge from her now, she’d stab. Why was he in her visions? What the hell was going on here? What could this impossibly handsome man who’d impacted much of the 20th century have to do with her tiny little life? Her brain was racing. Rather than spill her entire guts on him, she settled for small talk. “So, um, how’s Wakanda?”

He laughed. “It’s working out for me. New brain, new arm, new Bucky.”

That was a lot to unpack. “As long as you had a problem with the old one?”

“I did.”

“Then, go you, I suppose.” He just looked at her after that. His hands were still shoved deep into his pockets, though his shoulders had relaxed somewhat. His face was pensive. She felt exposed, her arms bare beneath his gaze. She took a deep breath, and barrelled forward. Her mouth opened -

“I saw you.”

\- and dropped there. When she finally found her voice, it shook. “You what now?”

“When I touched Dr. Foster. I saw you.” He shrugged. “She was shaking so hard, she nearly fell off the gurney at one point. I tried to pick her up, and -”

“She put the whammy on you?”

He snorted. “You could say that.”

Darcy cleared her throat. “What - uh, what did you see?”

He looked at her, steadily, intently. She felt herself flush under his blue eyes.

She felt like she had to offer something in return. “I saw you, too,” she croaked, unable to tear her gaze away.

“And what did you see?”

She shrugged, helpless to say anything.

He breathed deeply, looked up at the stars in the Wakandan sky. “Do you believe those are really alternate timelines?” He didn’t trip over the alien concept.

“Jane thinks so.” She shrugged. As far as she was concerned, that was gospel. 

“So in another world - multiple worlds, we’re...pretty important to each other.” Was he gauging her reaction?

“I guess so.”

“So what does that mean in this world?”

She felt a little dizzy. What could she possibly say? She opened her mouth to say something that could possibly be construed as flirty, something three-years-ago Darcy would have said, something like “Whatever you want it to mean, soldier” _except maybe cool it with the “soldier” business, Darcy, this dude is a poster boy for PTSD,_ or even something sensible, like “We’ve only just met.” But instead what popped out of her foolish, traitorous mouth was,

“I’m not important to anyone.” His gaze snapped back to her and she averted her own. She felt tired, and very old all of a sudden. “It was very nice meeting you. I couldn’t have asked for a better...vision. Vision partner. Participant. Or whatever. Good night.” She turned around and walked back into the palace, hoping someone would eventually point her in the direction of a bed. Bucky stayed behind, alone, looking out on the darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

Darcy tried to sleep that night. She’d been awake for what felt like forever, but the events of the past few days hummed about in her head. Thor. Jane. Bucky. The stillness of the room was at odds with her insides.

What would three-years-ago Darcy have done? Well, she’d probably have drank about it. Tequila shots with Jane and Erik, a campfire if they were in the desert or some hole-in-the-wall if they were in town. She’d have talked their ears off while tipsy, and received exactly the kind of advice one would expect from two drunken, socially-stunted astrophysicists in recovery. And after waking the next day in the same spots where they’d collapsed, she’d have marched up to the problem and faced it head on, consequences be damned.

But for some reason, the consequences felt...huge, now. Had, since leaving Jane.

Darcy slipped out of the bedroom she’d been assigned and tiptoed to Shuri’s lab. There, serene and sleeping, lay Jane. She looked like a goddamn Disney princess, hair splayed out on the table. Darcy’s heart clenched at the sight of her friend looking like that, passive and quiet, nothing at all like herself. If she were awake, Jane would have been in the thick of discovery, peppering Shuri with questions and offering her own answers and hypotheses.

Darcy dragged over a chair, the same one Bucky had been occupying the day before, and sat next to her unconscious friend. “Jane, this is pretty fucked up.” Jane didn’t respond. Darcy hadn’t expected her to, that would be silly, but deep down, she’d held out a teeny bit of hope. “I mean, not just your whole - situation. That’s obviously fucked up, and I know that you’ve got a lot going on right now, but I’m talking about...well, about me.”

Darcy looked at her friend. “Okay, me and you. So it’s your situation, too. Why are we here, Jane?”

 _Because you’re an idiot, Darcy,_ Imaginary Unconscious Jane helpfully responded.

But Darcy knew better than that. Jane knew how painfully lacking Darcy felt compared to Jane and Erik, and often, everyone else around her. Despite Darcy trying desperately to bury those feelings, Jane could tell, and she never poked that bear. Real Live Jane would never call her an idiot. So whose voice was that?

Imaginary Unconscious Jane sighed, long-suffering. _As if you don’t know._

Darcy was pissed off. She kicked at the floor. “Okay, I’m an idiot. What about it?”

_What have you been doing for the last three years?_

She ticked off her fingers. “I finished my degree, like you told me to, jerk. I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., which...okay, could have gone better, but how was I supposed to know they’d been infiltrated by Nazis? And now I work for the Avengers.”

_Are you happy?_

Her eyes squeezed shut. “Jane, that is a very personal question. And we haven’t been personal for two years now.”

_So that’s a no._

“Rude.”

_True._

Darcy sighed, her eyes stinging a bit. “No, no I’m not happy. I don’t even know how to be happy anymore.”

_And why not?_

_Because I don’t even know who I am, anymore._ Darcy couldn’t bring herself to answer her imaginary friend aloud. Luckily (or unluckily for her), people who live in your head don’t need vocal responses.

 _And what about this Bucky guy?_ Live Jane would have been forthright, or maybe absentminded, if she'd even noticed him at all. Unconscious Jane was an asshole, and Darcy could imagine her asking sneakily, before sipping on a cocktail. Darcy was not sure she liked Unconscious Jane. In fact, the more she thought about it, the less Unconscious Jane sounded like Jane, and more like...

“What about him?” She asked, but she knew why it was a question. He’d popped up in all of these visions of her accomplishing her dreams, doing great things. Could he maybe be a part of those visions? Or whatever the equivalent was in this world? She shook her head. “Jane, I’m not...I’m not equipped for someone like him. I post on social media for a living. I was an intern for four years.”

Imaginary Unconscious Jane was smug. _You’re running._

 _Yes._ “No.”

 _You don’t want to_ sell _the Avengers. You want to_ be _one._

Darcy was aghast. She felt something like a slash across her belly at that. “Jane, that’s - “

But the Jane in her head wasn’t finished. _This, from the girl who tazed a god? Who ran into a burning building to rescue helpless animals from their cages? Who ran headlong into danger to defeat the planet from evil aliens?_

Imaginary Jane was starting to wax lyrical. Well, Darcy didn’t know how to respond to that. “I didn’t know he was a god,” she grumbled.

_You need to make some changes._

“Yeah, okay,” she conceded. Her stomach twisted. “One change.”

_Start with one._

Darcy and Bucky found her there the next morning, slumped over the table beside her sleeping friend. “Darcy?” Shuri tapped her shoulder.

“‘Muh?” Darcy mumbled, limbs stiff, ass asleep from the hard chair. As she lifted her head, she listed in the chair, toppling over. Bucky dropped quickly to catch her, her own hands reaching out to steady herself, and landing upon Jane-

__

> _She was in the middle of a room, strapped to a chair. Her arms were bound behind her, and everything that wasn’t numb was starting to sting. She shifted her feet, but found the floor sticky beneath her. Where was she? Why was she here? The room was dark except for the glaring fluorescent light centered above her. It made everything else in the room difficult to differentiate. Darcy looked around for Shuri, for Jane.  
>  She did see, straight ahead of her, four looming figures. They weren’t necessarily dressed like kidnappers, but everything about their bearing said “Shadowy malevolent organization.” Hadn’t she seen enough Hydra masquerading as busboys to be able to tell?  
> She squinted, licked her lips, wincing at the twinge of the cut and the taste of metal in her mouth. “She’s the key,” one of them said, “She’ll get us out of here.” “Doesn’t look like much,” another said dismissively. “We’ve seen her more than the others,” the first one responded decisively, "In the meantime,” he nodded towards her, directed at a fifth, unseen figure. Then, out of the darkness, stepped Bucky.  
> No, not Bucky.  
> The Winter Soldier.  
> No recognition in his eyes, only malice. Darcy’s heart shattered, and she- _

Screaming. Screaming. _Where was Jane? Where was she?_ She hadn’t been in the vision, but Darcy had seen…

Bucky looked up at her from the floor, where he’d apparently thrown himself after pulling his hand from her. She was sobbing now, her own heavy breaths matching his, though he remained silent.

And then the room was crawling with Avengers. Shuri spurred into action. “Shitshitshit,” she said. “The energy’s spiking. Stark,” she turned and snapped at a device, which Stark promptly pulled off a cart and handed to her.

Rogers knelt down to Bucky. “Buck - “ Bucky’s breath was evening out, but his eyes were still squeezed tightly shut. He took the captain’s arm and pulled himself up, still grasping his friend for support. Finally, he shuddered, and opened his eyes, looking straight at Darcy. She saw something in his eyes that sliced right through her. So much pain. And then he immediately turned and ran out of the room.

Darcy was alone in the chair. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying for some steadiness, some comfort. 

And then, blessedly, she felt a heavy hand upon her shoulder. “Darcy?” Thor asked gently, “Are you well?”

 _No, no she fucking was not well._ Her hand reached back to grasp at his. “No, Thor,” she said, and honesty should not feel that rusty. “But I’m getting there.”


	8. Chapter 8

Darcy found Stark in another room in the science wing later that day. The room was previously unoccupied, which meant that Stark was unsupervised, which meant he was definitely not supposed to be there -

She shook it off. Wrangling scientists was not her job anymore. She’d come here to talk about something else.

“Stark.” He looked at her, his fingers twitching towards something he was not supposed to touch. She rolled her eyes. “I don’t care about that. We need to talk.”

He relaxed. She was not excited about this conversation, but it was time. Jane, though still unconscious, had stabilized. Darcy wanted to wait it out, but she was still apprehensive of her reception with Real Life Jane ( _Coward,_ Asshole Imaginary Jane who was really Darcy whispered; Darcy ignored her). He stretched, and walked towards her. “Hit me,” he said.

“I - I quit.”

“Nope,” he said blandly, walking past her. “Hey, you hungry?”

She stood there, a little shocked, then ran after him. “Did you hear me?”

“Unless you’re telling me what you want for lunch, I’m not interested. Fruit? Lamb? While we’re here, I’d like to take in some of the local cuisine.”

“Stark, I mean it. I don’t think it’s good for me.”

He turned to look at her. “Well, that’s interesting. Why not?”

“Lots of reasons.” She sighed. “Believe it or not, I’m trying to take an active role in my life here. I love working for - for the Avengers, but I just kind of fell into it. And now I think that I need to find something else, something I’m better suited for.”

“And why can’t you do that with the Avengers?””

She stared at him. Was he being deliberately obtuse? “I’m a social media associate for the Avengers.”

“Just because you’re something right now doesn’t mean you have to hold onto that forever. I used to be a war profiteer.” He shrugged. “You love working for me, keep doing that. We’ll find a different role for you, yeah? Pepper gave you options, I believe.”

Now she was dumbfounded. “You’d - you’d let me do that?”

He rolled his eyes. “You’ve proven yourself to me, Lewis. Besides, you know too much. If I let you go, I’d have to kill you.” There was a slight edge to his jaw as he said that, and his eyes shadowed. Darcy remembered him hinting at the threats, and wondered if the offer to keep her was simply magnanimity. “Talk to Pepper when we get back. Tell her where you want to be, and she’ll help you get there.”

“Darcy, I never meant to abandon anyone.”

The conversation with Thor was not going as smoothly as it had with Stark. “I know, I know you didn’t. Shit happens, right?” She shrugged. “No hard feelings. None. I just want you to understand why I’m leaving right now.”

“But when Jane wakes - “

She put a hand up to pause him. “You should be here when Jane wakes up. I don’t know if you want to rekindle anything there or not, but you definitely have some baggage to work through.”

He peered down at her, even as he was sitting directly beside her on the sofa. “And you think you do not have similar baggage with the Lady Jane?”

She groaned. He was so damned perceptive, and honesty was hard, and she was out of practice. “I definitely do. But I’m not in a place for that right now.” She nudged him with her shoulder, accomplishing absolutely nothing. “Besides, if she’s mad at you for leaving, don’t you want the brownie points for sticking around? Even if she’s unconscious? And - ” she added, “It’s important that she wake up to a friendly face.”

He looked skeptical, but nodded. “Indeed. If this is the course you suggest, Darcy, I shall take it under advisement. You, above all, understand Jane best.”

 _Oh brother,_ she thought, _if you only knew._ But they both rose, and he hugged her, lifting her half a foot off the ground. She counted the conversation as a win.

And there was one more tough conversation she had to have before Clint and Natasha flew her back to New York. She didn’t know if she’d ever find him, as he didn’t seem to want to be found. But she knew she’d never be able to sleep until she spoke with him.  
She reluctantly went to Shuri, and immediately regretted the decision. The princess had smiled knowingly, putting out a fist for Darcy to pound. “No,” Darcy said, rolling her eyes, “It’s not like that.”

“If you say so,” Shuri said, outright grinning now. “I will tell him you’re looking for him.”

“Please,” Darcy said, and walked away, uncomfortable, waiting for the inevitable.

He found her only moments before she walked on the Quinjet. She never even heard him approach, his feet stealthy and catlike. “I heard you’re looking for me?” His voice was rough.

She tried so damned hard not to show how he’d startled her. “Yes,” she said, “I wanted to apologize.”

She’d startled him, apparently. “No, that ain’t - “

“No, listen. I don’t know why you keep popping up in my other...realities, I guess? And I definitely don’t know why that particular one popped up earlier. I just want you to know, I don’t blame you. And I want to reassure you, I guess. That’s a reality, but it’s not this one. Not our reality. Also,” she permitted herself to move forward, a foot closer to him. “The apology. Right. I’m sorry that you’re apparently stuck in my orbit. I’m not going to assume things, or show up and try to make you uncomfortable. I don’t - I don’t expect things. From you.” She averted her eyes. He was really good at listening silently. “Anyway, I’m going back to New York today. But I -”

She was stopped by his hand on her hair. She didn’t know when he’d moved towards her. Her mouth had paused in its open position, but she closed it, and swallowed. His fingers were so gentle, sifting through the strands. She glanced at his face, and he looked at her, consideringly. His palm moved down to cup her cheek. Her breath stilled.

“You do that, doll,” he murmured. “But take this with you.”

He bent down, and kissed her. Darcy, who’d experienced literal explosions, didn’t know anything could blow your world up and make it whole all at once. But when his lips met hers, it was like pulling the pin on a grenade. It was like putting a key in a lock. It was damn near everything. It was a simple kiss, not demanding, not insistent. It was...a promise. His mouth slid across hers, his hand still resting on her face. He didn’t pull her closer, she didn’t wrap her arms around him. But the kiss gave her a clear vision, better than any of the visions she’d received from Jane, of a future where that could happen.

“Darcy!” Barton hollered from the hall. Bucky lifted his lips from hers, a ghost of a smile on his face. He stroked her cheek silently. Barton walked in. “Wheels up in- oh, ok then.”  
Bucky straightened, and stepped back, taking that beautiful, beautiful hand with him. Darcy would have whimpered, but she had a little dignity left, thank you very much. Their eyes were locked on one another, and she wondered if her own expression mirrored his: awestruck. He left, not running, but quickly, dazedly.

He nodded absently at Barton as he left, who promptly whipped around and stared at Darcy. “Lewis. What the fuck.”

She collected what pieces of herself she could immediately find, shrugged. “You ready to leave? I’m ready to leave. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more! These two have been living in my head for quite some time now. I have to finish their story. If you read this, and "Soul-Sick," thank you. I appreciate your patience.
> 
> I don't like to post until I have an entire story drafted. The next section...I'm sorry to say, I have nothing on page yet. But heck, I don't know about you, but Time is all I have right now. Stay well!


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